


To Forge a Pact

by Epinicion



Category: Persona 5, Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Don’t let the major character death tag scare you it’s only for the first chapter, Gen, It's the one TWEWY spoiler everyone knows though, Persona 5 Spoilers, TWEWY 5th day spoilers, You don't need to know anything about TWEWY to read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28818630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epinicion/pseuds/Epinicion
Summary: The day after Shido is elected as Prime Minister, Akechi finds himself thrown out of his everyday life and thrust into this challenge called the Reapers’ Game.The rules of this game? Complete the daily mission, or be erased. Work with a partner, or else the Noise will attack you and erase you. Survive the week, and you’ll get to return to your old life.He hates it. Akechi didn’t escape one game just to be placed in another. At least it looks like he has some company in this one.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	To Forge a Pact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major thanks to [SuperMechaAkira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperMechaAkira), [Kibetha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kibetha), and [D_Maradine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/D_Maradine) for helping me out with this, as well as [Kibetha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kibetha) and [MzValkyrie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MzValkyrie) for betaing! You guys are amazing!
> 
> Also, see end notes for additional tags and warnings.

Monday  
December 19, 20XX  
Day 1  


_He was thrown back against the wall, his back hitting brick as it screamed in pain. Seconds later, he felt cold steel pressed against his temple. It was the barrel of a gun._

_“Don’t you see, now? There’s no escape.”_

_The Cleaner towered over him, grinning wildly. He grit his teeth. After all he did to make himself indispensable, and this is how Shido repays him?_

_How sickening._

_A broken laugh erupted from his lips. He spent two years trying to manipulate this man that was his father, toiled to get him to trust him, but in the end, it looked like his plan was all for naught._

_“Having any regrets? It’s too late for that.”_

_“Me, having regrets? Who do you take me for?” He stared into the other man’s face, lips turning into a twisted smile._

_“Glad to see you’re the same as always. Your attitude served you well, you know. Though, that’s no matter, you’re to be disposed of now. Shido’s orders.”_

_The barrel of the gun dug deeper into his forehead. His smile faltered, but he did not avert his gaze. Even if he was defenseless, his gun on the floor a few meters away and his left hand broken, he refused to go down without defiance._

_The finger tightened around the trigger, and-_

“- As your proud leader, I will make Japan a powerful nation!“

Akechi eyes flew open, heartbeat racing, body recoiling back. His palms hit the ground, his eyes darting for his gun, only to catch on a… closed briefcase. His closed briefcase. He opened it to find his gun and his sword, safe and sound. The sound of Shido’s speech, blaring out of the nearby speakers, filled his ears. 

He was safe. That was just a dream. 

He exhaled slowly, and put the gun into his jacket. He gingerly closed the briefcase.

The pre-recorded monologue rinsed away the lingering traces of his dream, allowing thoughts of revenge to bloom in its absence; he was so close to fulfilling his plan, to utterly destroying Shido. Soon enough, after years of being carefully monitored by that man, he would be the one in control, the one pressing the metaphorical gun to Shido’s head. He laid back down onto the black asphalt, as the sound of last night’s speech slowly gave way to the chatter of the surrounding crowds.

Wait, black asphalt? Crowds?

Akechi quickly stood up, picking up his briefcase and dusting off whatever dirt stuck to his clothes. His detective clothes, not the worn-out Featherman pajamas he usually wore to bed. As he did so, four button pins fell from his hand. What were they doing there? He never indulged in such trivialities, especially ones so outdated… nonetheless, he quickly gathered them up.

One was completely blank, while the others depicted a stylized skull, the black mask he used to summon Loki, and the red mask that he used to summon Robin Hood, respectively. But who came up with these designs? How did they get into his hand? Nobody, aside from him and a handful of dead researchers, knew what his metaverse masks looked like... pushing down the rising feelings of panic, he put the pins into his pocket and looked around. 

He was right in the middle of Shibuya’s Scramble Crossing.

He wasn’t the only one here. Aside from the flood of the pedestrians in the area, the crossing was littered with multiple other people in various states of panic and confusion. To his left, a bleached-blond boy, sitting on a yellow wheelchair, was alternating between yelling while gesticulating wildly to his companion and looking apprehensively at his phone. Next to him stood a messy-haired boy who kept opening and closing his mouth, before shaking his head and he typed furiously into his phone, his eyes wide with panic. Akechi quietly walked away. He needed answers, not other people’s problems.

However, it seemed like the surrounding people weren’t much better. Some were in various states of panic, worriedly talking to each other, nervously fidgeting with their phones, or even downright crying. The others were just proceeding like everything was normal, like there wasn’t a good amount of people panicking in the Scramble. Akechi knew that the general population was blind to the problems of others, but to completely ignore panic, especially widespread panic, without sparing a single stare? 

Pushing down his growing frustration, he turned around, eye catching on a girl returning a cell phone to a nearby pedestrian. Perhaps she could help shed some light on what was happening; she was definitely calm enough to give him a proper answer. Putting on his nicest smile, Akechi tapped her on the shoulder. 

His hand went through her.

She proceeded to walk past him, walk through him, continuing as nothing odd was happening. He looked around, at the other pedestrians; everyone continued like all was normal… Was he invisible? And incorporeal?

What on earth was going on?

“Excuse me! Everyone! If I could just get your attention, please.”

Suddenly, those that had been panicking fell silent. They looked towards the source of the voice, the 104 building which towered over the Scramble. In front of the building was a short girl, her reddish-brown hair tied up in a ponytail. Black fence-like wings, somewhat resembling that of a bat, or even a demon, jutted out from her back. She held a megaphone up to her mouth. Next to her was a blue-haired boy with similar wings, standing impassively.

“Firstly, I’d like to welcome everyone to the Reapers’ Game! We’re your GMs for this week. I’m Minako Arisato, and this here is Minato Arisato.” She gestured to her companion, who gave a loose wave to the crowd slowly conglomerating in front of them. “You’re all here today to get a second chance at life!” She paused, letting the words settle into the crowd.

Akechi furrowed his brow. GMs? As in game masters? Were they the ones who put him here? The ones who placed the pins in his hand? Akechi pulled out the pin depicting his black mask; did they know that he was behind the psychotic breakdowns?

And that was without mentioning her other statement, the one regarding a second chance at life... what exactly was she implying here?

“To put it bluntly, you guys are all dead. You have my condolences.”

Akechi’s throat constricted with shock. That couldn’t be right. Not when he was so close to completing his goal...

The crowd erupted around him, some individuals shouting various insults at her. Her partner took the megaphone from her, before raising it up to his mouth.

“Quiet down please. We have some important things to tell you.” His voice, despite being gentle, remained steady.

Akechi couldn’t help but scowl. What else could they say that was really important? He was dead! He was so close to getting revenge, for everything to finally go his way, but now he’s dead?

However, the crowd around him seemed to listen to them and stopped their clamouring. Akechi frowned; if everyone else was going to listen to these… people, he supposed he could lend them an ear. 

“Thanks guys. And Minato. As I was saying, you guys have died. But, if you win this game, you can be resurrected back to life! It’ll be like you never died in the first place!”

Akechi blinked. So, his death could just be undone? He steadied his breathing.

“However, these chances do not come by for free. To join this game, you guys had to give up something important to you. Perhaps it’s a person. Or maybe it’s a precious memory. Usually we tell you what your fee was, but there’s so many of you this week, so you’ll get a text telling you what it is by tomorrow. Know this: if you win the game, you’ll get it back! So, try your best to win!

“The rules of the Reapers’ Game are simple: to win, don’t get erased. You’ll get erased if you fail to complete the tasks we give you within the time limit. Or if the Noise attack you enough times.”

There it was, that was the catch. Do what they want or else you’ll be… erased. Gone for good. And you’ll be attacked while trying to run their errands. Akechi crossed his arms, tamping down his increasing anger.

“The Reapers, the ones with the wings,” she gestured to the fence-like protrusions coming out of her back, “will be making sure that everything is running smoothly. You’ll see more of them around Shibuya. They’re not hostile, though some of them will summon noise for you to fight. And those will try to kill you.”

As she spoke, a tan hedgehog-like creature materialized in front of her, with yellow tattoo-like spikes protruding out of its back. It immediately turned its back to the crowd, shooting its back spikes towards them. As the crowd quickly ran out of the projectiles’ path, some screaming and many cursing, the girl waved her hand. The hedgehog and its attack dissolved into the air, the crowd left completely unharmed. 

“Anyways, here’s your task for today: get to A-East. You have two hours. You’ll need to fend off the noise to do so. Grab a partner, use your pins. You’ll need both to defeat the noise. Good luck.”

Once she finished her speech, Akechi felt a sharp pain in his left hand. His scowl returned to his face. His phone dinged with the notification of a new message. Around him, people were staring at their right hands, now decorated with shifting blood-red numbers. Akechi peeled off his left glove, finding an identical timer underneath, counting down from two hours.

The air around Akechi shifted as dog-sized frogs materialized from nothing, graffiti-like patterns on their back extending past their bodies to form their hind legs. Akechi flinched at their sudden appearance, but took one look at them and huffed. Judging by their size, they were small fry, not even half as intimidating as the Shadows he faced last week. Akechi didn’t need a partner to deal with them. Akechi reflexively reached for Loki, but he only found an emptiness where he once was. There wasn’t even the distant presence he usually felt outside the Metaverse… he kept prodding in the back of his mind, for Loki, for Robin Hood, but he couldn’t find a trace of either Persona.

The nearest frog leapt at him, jolting him out of his thoughts. Instinctively, he dodged it, pulled out his gun, and shot it square in the gut. It promptly disintegrated into static. More frogs took its place. He shot at them, one after another. It only took him seconds to mow them all down.

As the last of the frogs faded away, Akechi couldn’t help but scoff; he was supposed to be fighting for his life, but this was easier than a Mementos run! If all he had to do was not succumb to these frogs and get to the nearby A-East, this game was going to be a piece of cake. 

As Akechi took a step towards A-East, a hand latched onto his left one. Unable to jerk it away, Akechi turned around, only to be met with the male GM. Minato Arisato, if he remembered correctly. Long, blue bangs hid one of his eyes, but his other eye stared up unimpressed at Akechi.

“Guns are forbidden in the Game.”

Before Akechi could object, he twisted the pistol out of Akechi’s hand. He then tossed a small object towards him.

“Here. Catch this.”

A button pin found itself in Akechi’s palm, depicting a bird cage against a pastel-blue background. Akechi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Use that pin to fight the noise. The frogs. Oh, and grab a partner first. You’ll need one to deal any damage.”

Before Akechi could protest, the shorter boy had left with a wave, leaving a new wave of frogs in his wake. Perhaps sensing that he no longer had his pistol, they seemed to eye him predatorially, before leaping towards him.

Akechi sprinted away from them towards a smattering of people, all of them already leaving for A-East in pairs. He scowled; did everyone else already have a partner?

His question was answered soon enough. A boy, unruly black hair framing his panicked expression, ran towards Akechi as he was chased by another hoard of frogs. Their eyes met. The boy stretched out his hand, his grey eyes looking hopefully at Akechi. His mouth was slightly open. The timer on his hand counted down.

Well, in the rare moments that it was required, Akechi could be an excellent teammate.

“Make a pact with me!” Akechi yelled, grasping onto the other boy’s hand, accepting him as a teammate. Suddenly, everything went white. Akechi could feel his soul extending out of him, reaching out and connecting him to another entity. The boy.

As the white light faded, he came face-to-face with the other boy, his right hand tightly grasping Akechi’s. The frogs came to a halt, forming a circle around the pair, their tattoo-like legs fidgeting with anticipation. But they were no longer making the first move.

A smirk made its way onto Akechi’s face. He could work with this.

“You ready to show them what we’re made of?” The boy in front of him hesitated for a moment. Then, he gave Akechi a curt nod, his grim frown contrasting Akechi’s smirk. Good enough. With that, both boys turned around, back-to-back, and ran towards the frogs.

The air shifted again, and then it was just Akechi and the frogs, his new partner nowhere in sight. However, he could still feel the other boy’s presence in the back of his mind. Akechi frowned. Was this how they were supposed to fight, on different battlefields? Appearing as only a mild presence in each other's minds? The frogs leapt towards him, tearing him away from his thoughts. His muscle memory opened his briefcase and dragged out his toy sword, using it to knock away the frogs. He couldn’t help but smirk, thankful that he’d been in the habit of keeping it there. However, that feeling quickly faded, as he felt a short, momentary strain on his connection. And then another. The newfound presence in his mind flared up in a panic.

Did the other boy get hit? Multiple times? This wasn’t good; given how his connection felt strained each time, their connection was at risk of severing. What would happen to him then? Both Arisatos said that he needed a pact to fight the noise… Akechi scowled. He needed to erase these frogs before that happened. 

Problem was, his gun was gone, and his sword wasn’t dealing any damage. Akechi clutched the pin the blue-haired Arisato gave him in his hand, hoping it’ll do something. As Akechi ducked under a jumping frog, his subconscious drew a line on top of a nearby frog.

Instantly, a barbed chain appeared in the air, piercing the frog and a few other unlucky ones, quickly dissolving them into static.

A laugh bubbled out of Akechi’s mouth; it was just too perfect for someone who had been controlled all his life. He summoned more chains, grinning wildly as they crossed the battlefield, crushing any frogs that stood in his way. Eventually, there was only one left, eyeing Akechi cautiously as it leapt around him. Akechi took his time to walk towards it menacingly, before it finally made its move, a desperate leap towards him. He knocked it upwards with his sword, then summoned one last chain to finish it off.

As the battlefield faded away, Akechi frowned as he kept his sword; once he figured out how to deal damage to them, the fight flew by. He expected a bit of a challenge, at least something that was Mementos-level. 

Akechi turned around only to find his teammate hunched over, grimacing as he grasped his upper arm. Upon seeing Akechi though, his grimace twitched into a small grin, and he straightened himself up, giving him a thumbs up. Akechi couldn’t help but grin back. His partner had spirit. He could work with that.

He looked around him. The only enemies in sight were just more of the frogs. Nonetheless, his hands itched for something to do, to fight, even if the only things available to fight were weak mooks.

“You down for another round?”

Akechi’s teammate stretched out his back, and nodded back.

In the next fight, Akechi ruthlessly tore apart the creatures with chains. The only times he hesitated was when he felt the momentary strains on his connection, the unfamiliar feeling creating brief pangs of worry. Curse his link to him. If only he could wipe out the frogs faster... 

Easily dodging the assault of a frog, he clutched the pins depicting his Metaverse masks to his chest, hoping that they’d do something like produce one of his Personas’ attacks, or even summon them. However, they didn’t produce anything, no attacks, no Persona images, not even any mental instructions. 

Akechi scowled, channeling his emotions into summoning his chains, clearing the immediate area of the frogs. Where were his Personas? Weren’t they supposed to be a part of him?

Before he could think any further, a frog had latched itself to his face.

It kicked itself off, causing Akechi to seethe in pain; despite the fact that these frogs were fragile, their attacks hurt a lot. Almost instinctively, Akechi yelled, summoning a chain right in front of him; it caught the frog in midair, and instantaneously dissolved it.

As the battlefield faded, Akechi looked at the two pins in his right hand. Despite them depicting the masks he wore in the metaverse, they weren’t able to reconnect him with his Personas, or allow them to even use their abilities. Sighing to himself, he slipped the pins into his pocket before turning around to check up on his partner.

Despite the multiple strains on his connection with his partner, the other boy looked like he wasn’t doing too badly. He was no longer hunched over in pain, and instead stood confidently with his arms crossed and a small grin on his face.

Huh, a decent fighter and a quick learner? Well, looked like luck was finally on Akechi’s side.

Said partner cocked his head at the other frogs, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“You wish to fight more?”

His partner grinned before rushing towards the frog, initiating another fight.

They ended up picking fights with every frog they came across, giving them lots of battle experience and a handful of pins depicting differing amounts of yen. At first, Akechi’s partner called the shots, pointing to the nearest frog after a moment of rest. Then, Akechi caught on. By the time they made it to Dogenzaka, they were racing each other to attack the noise first, with Akechi barely winning most of these races.

Eventually, they reached the junction of Dogenzaka and A-East. The end was in sight, and with no other pairs around them, Akechi presumed that they were the first ones there. All thanks to his prowess. Well, their prowess.

A figure in a red hoodie stood in the middle of the road leading to A-East, vibrant blue eyes following Akechi around as his black wings fluttered periodically. Akechi walked up to him, left hand grasping his pastel-coloured pin.

“Want to get past this wall?” The hooded figure jerked his head up.

Akechi looked back at him, trying not to stare. “Excuse me?”

“I’m blocking this junction from Players. That’s you guys, for the record. But well, if you guys fulfill my requests, I’ll let you through… Hmm, what should I ask you for? Some sushi might be nice…”

Akechi could only stare blankly at the hooded figure. His partner simply looked away, putting his hands in his pocket as the other figure pondered his options.

“…. ah, that wouldn’t do. All the good sushi places are blocked off, and Ramen Don’s ‘sushi’ is just… blech.” He shook his head. “Tell you what, if you give me three 100 yen pins, I’ll let you through. They should be dropping from Noise No. 1. Those are the Dixiefrogs you guys have been picking fights with.”

Heh, that should be easy enough. Akechi rummaged through his pockets, and procured… a single 100 yen pin. Seriously? They’ve been in at least ten fights with these damn frogs, and they only had one 100 yen pin? Pushing down his disgust into mere disappointment, Akechi turned to his teammate. “Do you have any pins?”

The other boy held out his hands, both empty, and shook his head.

Akechi bit back a curse. Guess they had to fight more of those frogs.

As he turned to leave, something brushed past him. Akechi turned around, only to spot a small, orange-haired girl dragging around a blue-haired boy almost twice her height. Or well, he would be, if he wasn’t keeling over, almost tripping over himself as his partner dragged him towards the hooded figure. Behind them, a blonde with European features walked briskly towards the hooded figure. Following her was the bleached-blond boy, the one that was talking to Akechi’s partner earlier. His teeth were clenched as he wheeled his way towards the others in an obnoxiously vibrant yellow wheelchair.

The small girl stopped a few meters right in front of the hooded figure, before ducking right behind her partner. The blonde girl quickly caught up with her, and put a hand on the shorter girl’s shoulder as she talked to her. Was the smaller girl scared of the Reaper? The Reaper that just talked to them, and didn’t even summon noise to fight them? 

Before Akechi could say something, and show the small girl how flimsy and unwarranted her fears were, she gingerly stepped away from the rest of the group, before abruptly sprinting up to the hooded figure.

“H-here! You said you were looking for 3 100 yen pins, right? Take it!”

She shoved something in the hooded figure’s hands, before running back and ducking behind her partner once again. The hooded figure could only look down at his hands blankly, before sighing and retracting them.

“Well, that’s 3 100 yen pins. Wall cleared…”

As the hooded Reaper walked to the side of the street, the girl jolted right down it, hand relinked with that of the taller boy. The other two followed them, albeit at a slower pace. A second later, a chill travelled up Akechi’s left hand. He gingerly peeled off his left glove, just to check that, yep, his timer was gone. A glance to his teammate, who was holding up his own hand, shock and hope written all over his face.

That meant this pathetic excuse of a group had just completed the task before them. Even though they got to the hooded figure first. Even though they were obviously in better condition than them, even though they were obviously superior to them. Akechi closed his eyes, pushing aside the rage that was building up inside him. Not now. Not in front of his new partner.

“Let’s go. A-East is just this way.” Akechi’s voice came out a bit too pleasant, a bit too plastic. His teammate stared back, concern in his eyes, but then nodded. The pair walked forward, in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: gun violence, murder
> 
> Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Here are just a few notes about this fanfic:
> 
>   * Days will be split into multiple chapters, so this isn’t all you’ll be seeing for Day 1.
>   * This depiction of the Reapers’ Game is mainly based off of the DS game.
> 

> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!


End file.
